WTI crude slips, but holds above $83

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices declined on Thursday, after rising nearly 1% in the previous session after data showed a drop in US crude and fuel inventories.

US crude stocks fell by 431,000 barrels in the week to Oct. 15 to 426.5 million barrels, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed.

“The supply-side slack in oil that emerged during the 2020 lockdowns is gone,” Bloomberg reported, citing Victor Shum, Vice President of Energy Consulting for IHS Markit.

“Oil demand is not back to pre–Covid-19 levels, but the balance between demand and supply is.”

In terms of trading, the international benchmark Brent crude was trading down 0.4% at $85.52 per barrel, at 9.00 am Makkah time.

WTI crude fell 0.2% to $83.29 per barrel.